Dumped Divorcees take their brand new show to the Forum this week

Aine O’Doherty

One of Derry’s favourite comedy trios of recent years will return to the Millennium Forum this week, for the second installment of the ‘Dumped Divorcees Support Group’ trilogy.

Irene Melaugh presents the follow up to the critically acclaimed show, and the brand new play will see audience favourites return, along with some new faces.

‘The Dumped Divorcees Support Group Rides Again’ will run for four nights from tomorrow, Wednesday, January 31 until Saturday, February 3 in the Forum.

Speaking to the ‘Journal ahead of the opening night, writer Irene, who also plays Maura in the show said she really enjoyed writing part two of the trilogy.

“We’re all having great craic doing the play. I actually wrote the first one in 2003, and it was on in the Playhouse first, and broke all records there. It’s been on four times since then.

“A lot of people used to say to me, why don’t you just write a part two, and I thought sure why not, the characters are all there.

“The Three Degrees - Maura, Rosie, Eileen and the increasingly desperate Eugene decide to give The Dumped Divorcee Support Group one more try. It couldn’t be any worse than the first disaster. Could it?

“Maura comes across as a hard nut, but she’s really soft in the middle, and she’d love to meet somebody, but nothing ever works out for her.

“I really enjoyed writing it. When I’m writing, I don’t make any plans for it. I just start the first line and see what happens.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the play. I have a vague idea, but I didn’t know until I started writing.”

Lynn McCarron plays Eileen in the play, and at the end of part one, she had left to join the Convent.

“In the second installment, Eileen has been put out of the Convent, and she’s come back to Maura to see if she will take her in.

“It’s something to do with the Bishop.

“I enjoy playing the role, and it’s great to see how she has come on, She doesn’t know now if she’s coming or going,” said Lynn.

Irene added that the audience over the next four nights should expect “total insanity” from the play.

“It’s really, really funny. We can’t even get through it in rehearsals. It’s a play in its own right, it stands on it own. So anyone that hasn’t seen the first one, just come along and see this one.

“We also have three new characters, who might actually be madder than we are,” she said.

Irene added that Lynn had acted for a number of years, but was never on stage before they met.

“She’s a natural. There’s a lot of people that I have on stage that never acted before, but they’re absolutely brilliant.”

The cast have carried out all of the rehearsals in Studio 2, and Irene said Ollie Green is “very obliging for anything to do with the arts.”